World Cup Carmel – Day Three Finals: Kaylee McKeown Pops Aussie Record to Win 200 Backstroke
The opening leg of the three-stop World Cup tour will come to an end tonight in Carmel, the weekend having produced some stellar performances. World Cup action is typically conducted in Europe and Asia, but North America was selected for this year’s series and that decision has been rewarded with quality racing.
Through the first two days of competition, a world record in the 50-meter butterfly was produced by Gretchen Walsh while American records were set by Regan Smith (200 butterfly) and Shaine Casas (200 individual medley). Additionally, Mollie O’Callaghan established an Australian record in the 200 freestyle, breaking a mark that had belonged to Ariarne Titmus since the 2018 season.
Before the tour moves on to Westmont, Illinois (Oct. 17-19) and Toronto (Oct. 23-25), here is a recap of the final night of racing from Carmel.
Day One Finals
Day Two Finals
Results
Men’s 400 Individual Medley
The United States’ Carson Foster was the only athlete to crack the four-minute barrier, going 3:59.58 to earn a victory over Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita, the silver medalist at the 2024 Olympic Games and 2025 World Championships. Foster led Matsushita by just .17 after the opening butterfly leg, but his margin expanded to 1.44 seconds by the midway point of the race. Matsushita notched a time of 4:01.82.
American Shaine Casas was the third-place finish, thanks to a 4:03.10 effort from the morning session. The event was contested as a timed final and with Casas rarely racing the 400 IM, he was seeded in the early heats.
Women’s 800 Freestyle
Australian Lani Pallister secured a dominant win in the 800 freestyle, swimming 8:02.02 to defeat runnerup Erika Fairweather (8:12.57) by more than 10 seconds. Pallister just missed her national record, which sits at 8:01.95 from last year’s World Short Course Championships. Already the winner of the 400 freestyle earlier in the meet, Pallister was ahead of Fairweather by nearly three seconds at the 200-meter mark and continued to build her advantage.
Women’s 100 Butterfly
There was no world record like Saturday night in the 50 butterfly, but American Gretchen Walsh was untouchable in the 100 butterfly for her latest World Cup title. Walsh lowered the World Cup record to 53.69 while recording a win of more than a second over Australian Alexandria Perkins, who was timed in 54.93. The time by Perkins was good for a national record, bettering her 55.10 from last year.
Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk picked up third place in 55.64.
Men’s 50 Butterfly
Canadian Ilya Kharun, the Arizona State University star, reversed the outcome of the 100 butterfly earlier in the meet by claiming the sprint fly crown. Trailing Switzerland’s Noe Ponti 10.05 to 10.14 at the 25-meter mark, Kharun rallied over the last length and came away with the win in 21.86. Ponti placed second in 21.90, with Italian Thomas Ceccon going 22.36 for third place.
Women’s 200 Backstroke
Following a runnerup finish to Regan Smith in the 100 backstroke on Saturday night, Australian Kaylee McKeown flipped the script in style in the 200 backstroke. The two-time Olympic champion in the 200 backstroke erased an early deficit and got to the wall in 1:58.86, which broke her Australian record. McKeown’s former standard stood at 1:58.94, from the 2020 season.
The world-record holder in the event, Smith finished second on Sunday, on the strength of a 2:00.07 performance. Third place went to American teenager Charlotte Crush, who covered the race in 2:02.28.
Men’s 100 Backstroke
Hungary’s Hubert Kos made it a backstroke sweep with a dominant performance in the 100-meter distance. Having won the 50 and 200 backstroke events during the first two days of competition, Kos dialed up a 49.08 in the 100 back to easily finish ahead of Poland’s Kacper Stokowski, who touched the wall in 49.92. Italy’s Thomas Ceccon was third in 50.20.
Kos wasn’t far off his national record of 48.79, set last year.
Women’s 50 Breaststroke
Estonia’s Eneli Efimova moved up from a second-place effort in the 100 breaststroke and prevailed at half that distance, behind a mark of 29.33. Efimova touched the wall a quarter-second ahead of the 29.58 by Belgium’s Florine Gaspard, who has enjoyed a strong 2025 season across multiple events. Germany’s Anna Elendt was third in 29.80.
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
It was quite a weekend for Caspar Corbeau at the World Cup opener, with the Dutchman packaging a pair of victories and a second-place finish in the breaststroke events. On Sunday, Corbeau put together a wire-to-wire triumph in the 200 breaststroke, and held off a late charge by Leon Marchand.
Corbeau claimed the win in the 200 breast in 2:01.63, which was just .20 off the Dutch national record of 2:01.43, held by Arno Kamminga. Corbeau built a .98 edge at the midway point of the race and while Marchand cut into his deficit over the last four lengths, Corbeau had enough to hold on. Japan’s Shin Ohashi, the 16-year-old rising star, was third in 2:04.07.
Women’s 100 Freestyle
Over the years, we have become accustomed to Australia Mollie O’Callaghan reeling in the opposition in the latter stages of her races. But in the final of the 100 freestyle, American Kate Douglass built an early lead and expanded her margin over O’Callaghan to cement an impressive victory. Douglass clocked a time of 50.83 while O’Callaghan went 51.13 for second place.
Dutchwoman Marrit Steenbergen was the third athlete to break the 52-second barrier in the event, as she touched the wall in 51.56.
Men’s 200 Freestyle
World-record holder Luke Hobson backed up his strong morning performance by swimming another 1:41 mark, this time going 1:41.19 to fend off fellow American Chris Guiliano (1:41.58). Hobson was fourth at the 50-meter mark and moved up to second by the midway point of the race. By the 125, he was in front and never relinquished his lead.
Great Britain’s Matt Richards clocked a 1:41.76 to clip American Grant House (1:41.80) for third place.
Women’s 200 Individual Medley
